India needs to be abreast of the global environment in the banking arena; convenience at banking has to be given prime importance

These are the times where we are witnessing path breaking innovations supported by technology and entrepreneurship approach in almost all walks of life. So be it in field of telecommunications, the way cricket is viewed and perceived, or be it the banking & financial industry.

Banking no longer is viewed as a stable and hence a non-innovative field, things have changed a lot over the last 15 years. That the ‘Customer is King’ truly holds good with the banking sector as well. Gone are the times when one had to walk into a branch to get their passbook updated, now customers have the delivery by pressing a few buttons on his mobile or their laptops.

The concept that a customer does not walk into a bank branch but the bank comes to the customer is reality now – doorstep banking where banks reach out to the customer for cash/remittance transactions is a ‘must have’ product.

Ease of transacting has become basic to banking – hence withdrawing from any bank’s ATM or receiving instant messages on your mobile on any transaction in your account or daily wealth portfolio movement and stock market updates are offered by any bank now. These are the times that India needs to be abreast with the global environment in the banking arena thus convenience at banking has to be given prime importance – thus, banking truly comes under the ‘service’ segment.

All new service channels are evolving, making things easier for the customer; but the ‘branch’ continues to be in existence and is a popular banking channel for transactions. Thus, innovations in branch banking are also evolving. Extended servicing hours, open on holidays/Sundays, premium servicing lounge are customer expectations in addition to non-branch delivery channels.

Customers now have ample choice, not just within banks but within segments of banks – foreign, private sector or public sector banks. While customers approach various types of banks depending on their requirements, the key to maintaining and increasing market shares by any bank is to customise themselves to customer needs.

Slowdown, market crash, and an uncertain banking environment, yet some banks find their way to make it to the top of the consumers’ minds. 4Ps B&M with ICMR finds those victorious banks that managed to break on through to the other side... India’s best marketed banks!

Best Marketed Banks In India (ICMR and 4Ps B&M Rankings)

Based on consumers’ perception about the banks that form a part of their everyday life

They have managed to befriend the local dealers and are offering them greater margins, a proposition that players like Nokia have missed out on. So does that imply the end of Nokia’s rule? Some ground it has lost, but even today has a market share of 54.1% (IDC report for 2009) – that is some dominance! Going forward, Nokia is gearing up to fight back, evidence of the same being the new launches in the lower-price range. To prevent further erosion in the feature-rich phones category, the company has launched three QWERTY pad handsets – Nokia C3, Nokia C6 & Nokia E5 – that are attractively priced between Rs.5,317 to Rs.13,000. There is also the Nokia X2, a music phone with a 5MP camera, which is being offered at a price of Rs.5,000. justifying the launches, Anssi Vanjoki, Executive VP, Nokia says, “There are reactive elements in the new launches, but this is more of a strategic move. We have always looked to offer a full range of products and services to our consumers and are continuing with that.”

Call it a defensive shot or a forward ball to bowl out the threat from new entrants, Nokia is a seasoned veteran, who has been through much more in the Indian market and worldwide. It still enjoys a reputation of an aspirational brand that offers reliable products and as long as it can keep its hands off product recalls, it will continue to hold the sceptre over the isle known as the Indian mobile market.Surbhi Chawla

In order to connect with a large number of customers, the National Stock Exchange (NSE) has taken to advertise on rail. Initiated on April 28, 2010, NSE campaigns for investor awareness will run on Rajdhani trains on three routes viz. Delhi-Chennai, Delhi-Bangalore and Delhi-Trivandrum. The coaches of these trains will have colorful images of NSE’s flagship index Nifty and other products like mutual funds and gold ETFs. Apart from the advertisements on the outside, the passengers inside the coaches of the trains will be provided with pamphlets and audio visual material that will spread awareness about the dos and donts of the financial markets.

Speaking about the campaign, Ravi Narain, CEO and MD, NSE said, “NSE has been conducting financial investor awareness programme for the last several years. This initiative is financial literacy on wheels wherein audio visual information (literature) will be made available on long distance trains.”

Well, the dope is that 9X, the general entertainment channel (GEC) of media house INX, is being targeted by Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd (ZEEL), currently India’s largest media company. Apparently, the board of directors of Zee has approved the said deal. ZEEL has apparently kept aside Rs.65 crores for the acquisition. INX Media, founded by Indrani Mukherjea, had initially seen investment participation from many respectable investors – like Kotak Mahindra Capital, Temasek, New Vernon Private Equity, New Silk Route and Srei. Unfortunately, INX’s overall media business now has accumulated losses that are estimated to cross Rs.8 billion by the end of the current fiscal year. The firm is said to owe around Rs.1.3 billion to its creditors. One reason Zee might be attempting to buy 9X instead of launching its own GEC could be that recently, the government had stopped processing new license applications citing infrastructure scarcity. Zee may re-launch 9X as its second GEC, given that as on date, both STAR and Sony have their secondary GECs – STAR One and SAB – running full time. But given that Zee’s earlier attempt at launching Zee Next was not so successful as the channel was shut down within a year of its launch, are there any lessons for Zee out here? One advantage is that with 9X comes the existing infrastructure, which is already in place at 9X. At the same time, the book losses of 9X can be easily converted into taxation advantages for Zee. Anand Shah, Analyst, Angel Broking, tells 4Ps B&M, “Any company which makes a lot of profit has to pay a fair amount of tax as well. The tax benefit is being perceived as the key motive of the deal. The deal may just be yet another attempt to emerge stronger amongst a number of general entertainment broadcasters who are in cut throat competition for eyeballs.” The zeal is evidently unmistakable...

The most talked about ad property in recent times has, surprisingly, attracted drastically mixed reactions in its second edition, which played out with full force in the recently concluded IPL. Who’s winning? 4Ps B&M investigates

Recreation of real-life situations with rib-tickling and sassy humour through totally side-splitting comical commercials – and all through creatures that a couple of years back you wouldn’t have cared two hoots about! Whether you love them or hate them, you simply can’t ignore them. Zoozoos have in all their glory conquered their rightful land in the ad-empire! Those adorable, charming, alien creatures unleashed by Vodaphone last year, courtesy Ogilvy, who took the viewing public by storm through their sheer ingenuity, freshness, quirkiness and that rare specialty Ogilvy has mastered – a magical fusion of surprise and delight! Yes, we do adore the Zoozoos, but the point is – did the second Zoozoo ads installment inspire, attract or generate the same degree of joy, enthusiasm, wows and appreciation as the first … or was it a predictable and to an extent repetitive overkill – that was seen for the humour surely, but did not cut any deep creative ice with the consumers? The question – led by 29 TVCs that blitzed the IPL viewer across 45 days – surely doesn’t have a predictable answer, as we realised when we flipped through industry responses...

“Of course, it wasn’t the same and frequently got boring and brain dead as hell!” That is the surprising reply of Delhi-based DD director Ananya Banerjee. She confesses she loved last year’s package but this time “it was getting on my nerves! The frequency was maddening and god, some of them were downright dumb and corny!” But godfather Alyque Padamsee believes that anyone who fails to be charmed by these amazing creatures has no right to be “certified sane!” He confesses to be a total fan of the little fellas and congratulates Vodaphone, the agency and the film production company for pulling off such a fabulous effort. “I freeze the remote the moment the delightful Zoozoo ads hit the screen! For me, they have the same charm and endearing quality as the Fevicol ads. Are they boring because they play out the same theme? Not at all, and that’s because of the brilliant creative execution. I place them alongside the iconic Air India’s Maharaja, the Amul characters and Asian Paints Gattu. Kudos to the team!”

From the moment we stepped aboard one of their mid-sized ships, we recognised that the Holland America Line was different. They sail with nearly one crew member for every two guests, providing gracious service; and it was a classic cruising. Their ships feature spacious wrap-around teak decks, which enabled us with never before panoramic views from abundant spacious private verandahs.

For most part of the year gone by, realtors harped over the affordable housing strategy to lure consumers. But builders now are now trying to lure buyers through theme-based dreams! Do they even stand a chance?

Of he few structures that would be hard to miss while sauntering along Dubai’s Business Bay, the Boris Becker Business Tower, which is increasingly becoming an emerging commercial hub of the city, forms the key. The 19-storey tower standing tall above the water-level, is the third and final offering of the ‘Sports Legends Trilogy’ built by Germany’s ACI Real Estate Developer, which has also built the Niki Lauda Twin Tower and Michael Schumacher Business Avenue. Moving beyond the city of gold, even countries like UK and Jordon have developed a state of the art Media City to promote the media industry of their respective countries. In India too, the development of Cyberabad in the city of Hyderabad, marks the coming together of several Fortune 500 companies from the IT/ITeS sectors. But these aforementioned projects are all commercial, relatively easy to sell and more so, when you have a theme associated with the structures. And while this trend of marketing commercial real estate projects (either by associating a personality or attaching a theme with the project) has for long been in vogue, the ‘theme’ proposition is steamrolling itself into the residential property space in India. Apparently, this would help real estate developers boost sales by spamming the nouveau rich segment. Umm, does this even work?

The success of Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan’s maiden real estate venture – Shah Rukh Khan Boulevard – in Dubai is an example of how aspirational the global consumer has become when it comes to buying a house. But then, isn’t the Indian customer a beast with an undefined nature? With the commercial real estate still growing at a sluggish pace in the Indian market, all hopes of most of the developers are pinned on their residential projects. Currently, the market scenario is such that around 40% of the property being purchased is for investment purposes and the remaining 60% is bought for actual residential use. To that extent, developing theme-based housing projects does seem – on the face of it – to be a high risk high return proposition.

But Vivek Mittal, CEO, Realty Stocks, disagrees with us, “The last 18-24 months saw a huge dip in the realty sector, with both residential and commercial space suffering from a lack of demand. Affordable housing helped the realtors gain some ground by selling houses in the range of Rs.20-30 lakh. However, it is time that realtors offer more than just affordable houses to their consumers. Launching theme-based houses is a step in that direction.” It is accepted that with more and more educated consumers coming into the picture, there is a dire need for proper marketing of the projects. But wouldn’t theme-based projects end up being too costly for the consumer?

Has today’s advertising kept pace with scores of Indian women emerging from the shadows to seek their rightful place in society? 4Ps B&M presents various views

Resurgent India! India shining! Woman power unleashed! Superwomen in the corridors of power! Evolved, educated, accomplished, articulate and confident, this new woman is a blazing reality in today’s India! After decades of prejudice inflicted by tradition and a male-dominated society, women – at least a significant minority – seem to be coming into their own. And magazines, publications, special supplements, debates, discussions and seminars, they all seem to be fixated on energetically championing the female cause now!

But has Indian advertising – which has made huge waves globally in all major platforms, forums and meets – for its turn been able to sensitively, fairly and realistically track, reflect, mirror or portray this seismic change? Has Indian advertising been able to capture the nuances of this fascinating creature successfully straddling several universes with all the complexity, confidence and contradictions at her disposal? Or is the re-enforcing of stereotypes with corny and predictable makeovers simply cosmetic tokenism?

It is interesting to note what Michele Kristula-Green (the revered Asia-Pacific President of Leo Burnett) articulated at a recent presentation that she made on this subject, where she accused advertisers of constantly portraying women “in the man’s version of what they should be.” The ad biz guys, a recent study says, seem to be way-off on at least five crucial parameters – money, sexuality, humour, emotion and authenticity. The study also revealed that unlike the West, women in the Asian society are not comfortable with blatant portrayals of sex, because for them it is a part of their intrinsic femininity – and not something to be exhibited in a titillating, man-baiting way. Finally – and this is critical – the study says that in Asian societies, girls are taught to view emotions as a strength not a weakness; and hence their responses to messages and communication are far different from what is shown in today’s well-packaged yet logically worthless advertisements!

We asked a few evolved, intelligent women and their reactions were both interesting. And startling!

They have seen many seasons, and have done better with every passing one, anticipating for the best to come someday...

From bringing in ‘Hamara Bajaj’ to life to adding opulence in the Happydent White film to creating the human chain for Himani Fast Relief, Equinox Film has done it all. Having been in existence for about 25 years, and after leaving their mark throughout these decades, they are still modest in adding that their best is yet to come, despite critics calling them a wholesale outfit.

Like their ad films, the journey of Equinox Film is also quite interesting. It all started in 1983, when Sumantra Ghosal got into a production outfit belonging to one of his friends. Soon, Sumantra became a partner only to see his friend moving out to pursue other interests. But little did Sumantra know that history would repeat itself in form of Ram Madhvani, who joined Equinox Film as a trainee. And as the fate would have it, Madhvani soon accepted his offer to become a partner in the firm. Since then, the duo along with Manoj Shroff, (now the Producer of Equinox Film) is leading this production house from the front and producing one great ad film after another. “There is no other production house that I can think of that has been in the business for so long and has constantly reinvented itself,” exclaims Madhvani.

So how have things changed over time? Madhvani answers chuckling, “A good script and a good idea were what counted then and it’s the same even today. Not just the basics, but work ethics too are more or less the same.” Believable? We didn’t need to go far on that count. Shroff does not agree with him as he states, “Things have changed. With time a director matures, a production house gets more experience and the level of work they do goes up. That’s what has happened to us as well.”

The testimonials of their recent great doings (or undoings) are the popular ad films of Hippo Chips and LMN. They have generated quite a buzz in the industry in a very short span of time. But Shroff feels that their most challenging work was the film for Himani Fast Relief. It was really tough to manage as many as 130-180 people on the sets. These people were required for one particular ad scene and after managing that raucous bunch, Shroff believes that he is not afraid of doing anything else.

Nevertheless, both Shroff and Madhvani are confident that in the future the production house will be known for its quality and not just as a wholesale outfit!